UKELODEON: For The Next Generation (09/10/06)

UKELODEON

For The Next Generation

Rochester boy helps Katrina victims

by Oles Kowalchuk

When I heard about Hurricane Katrina, I wanted to help the victims in some way. As a member of Plast Ukrainian Scouting Organization in Rochester, N.Y., last fall I worked with my scout leader, Tanya Kosc, to plan some fund-raising activities. I chose the following activities: a bake sale, a presentation about hurricanes, a recycling receipt drive and monetary donations.

In two months we raised $505.36. Since our Plast group is so small, we were pleased with the outcome. The money was sent to Catholic Charities and given to the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

In my presentation I spoke about hurricanes in general - how they form, specifics about Hurricane Katrina and why it was different from other hurricanes, as well as the damage it caused. I learned about the three parts of a hurricane. Did you know that hurricanes can last from nine to 12 days? While I was researching hurricanes, I read about many people who were raising money to help hurricane victims, as well as many who gave much of their time in assistance.

This project was interesting for me. I learned how to plan events in order to raise money for worthy causes. I also learned more about working with others and encouraging them to help out.

Oles Kowalchuk, a member of Plast's 19th Kurin named in honor of Metropolitan Andrey Sheptysky in Rochester, N.Y., is a seventh grader. He will turn 11 in December. He wrote about his experience in fund-raising for Hurricane Katrina victims in an article that appeared in January in the local newspaper.

Parma area children attend Vacation Church School

PARMA, Ohio - St. Vladimir's Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral held its annual Vacation Church School on August 7-11. Seen above are the children, clergy and staff of the school as they gathered outside the cathedral.

Mishanyna

To solve this month's Mishanyna find the words that are capitalized in the text below in the Mishanyna grid. Happy hunting!

How many of you know that there is a Ukrainian American ASTRONAUT now awaiting the launch of the shuttle Atlantis into space? (If you'd read The Ukrainian Weekly's front page of August 27, you would have known...)

She is HEIDEMARIE STEFANYSHYN-Piper, a COMMANDER in the United States Navy. Heide is a mission specialist on the six-member CREW of STS-115, an 11-day mission that will install solar power panels at the International SPACE Station.

As this issue of the our newspaper was being prepared, the SHUTTLE launch scheduled for early this week was delayed and the liftoff was expected to take place either later in the week or next month. When that happens, Heide will become the first Ukrainian American to fly in space. And, it gets better: Heide is scheduled to make two space WALKS. That's been a DREAM of hers for a long time.

She is originally from St. Paul, Minn., where, just like many of you, she was involved in Ukrainian COMMUNITY activities, including Plast scouting, the local DANCE group and the school of Ukrainian studies. In fact, she is featured in a PLAST documentary that celebrated the youth organization's 50th anniversary in the United States.

Heide's father was Ukrainian and her mother German, so she learned to speak those two languages fluently. She studied engineering, joined the NAVY and became an astronaut candidate in 1996. She has been an astronaut since 1998, when she completed training with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, or NASA.

When The Weekly visited with Heide in Houston at NASA's Johnson Space Center in 2000, we couldn't help but notice the Ukraine sticker on her car and the Ukrainian music in her car's CD player. And, in the Special Vehicle Mock-Up Facility, inside a full-scale replica of the shuttle, she joked about the tight quarters: "And you thought TABIR [camp] was bad!" Why, she's just as Ukrainian as you and me!

So, now that you know our Ukrainian American astronaut is headed for space, we are sure you too will be eagerly awaiting the launch of the ATLANTIS.

OUR NEXT ISSUE: UKELODEON is published on the second Sunday of every month. To make it into our next issue, dated October 8, please send in your materials by September 29.

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